Rez

Dominique DeLeon

Rez

Dominique DeLeon

Drama

Short

Daniel Nightbird is an Ojibwe teen living on the Leech Lake reservation who's taking care of his young sister alone. Down to his last dollar, when he's suddenly evicted it sets in motion a desperate search for a safe place on the Rez, which is harder to come by than even he imagined.

Daniel Nightbird is an Ojibwe teen living on the Leech Lake reservation who's taking care of his young sister alone. Down to his last dollar, when he's suddenly evicted it sets in motion a desperate search for a safe place on the Rez, which is harder to come by than even he imagined.

181 supporters

421 followers

Green Light

RAISED $14,245

for POST-PRODUCTION

181 supporters, 421 followers

About The Project

Aanin-

Nearly two years ago I walked into Spike Lee’s office with the idea for the little film that would
become Rez: a film meant to honor a late friend but also shed some light on the plight of the 7th
generation, a group of young men and women who have come of age in the time of the 7th fire. In the
original prophecy, the task of the 7th generation is difficult: they are given the calling of returning to the
trail to find what was left there, returning to their people the spiritual ways that have been lost.
On this journey though, they are promised no help from the elder generation, many of whom it is said
will point in the wrong direction, remain silent out of fear or cease to offer anything because they are
not asked. And so the young people of the 7th generation are left to rediscover the nature of the circle,
and in doing so find a way to trust and develop their innermost judgment.
I can think of no better allegory for the times in which in we live, confusing as they are, and divided as
we seem one man from another.

Rez started as an attempt to answer in my heart why a dear friend, a student at Harvard, was gunned
down by a Sureño a few months before he could finish his education. It was an attempt to answer one
question: “why was he there?” It has since become something much larger, something more universal:
“Where are our young people? Where is the 7th generation?”

The answer that I uncovered while working on this film was very clear.

We are scattered. We are confused. But most of all, we are lonely.

It is hard to do the right thing, and the road of those young people who choose to is a lonely one. This
is something I felt many times as I went about preparing to shoot Rez in what many assured me was the
most difficult, but in my mind only right way to do it: with an all Native cast, on location, and with the
support of the community. It is something I saw in the faces of the young men and women of Leech
Lake struggling to find their way. And it is something we’re seeing on a larger national scale as the 7th
generation stumbles towards adulthood, trying desperately to live up to our billing.

This is what Rez is about, and what, in part, prompted Spike Lee to lend his support. That support
enabled us to do the film the right way, spending three months in the community and casting real people
from the community. Now, as Rez nears completion, we are reaching out again for help finishing the
film. We have a powerful film in the works, one that we hope will touch the hearts and minds of many.
But there are a few technicalities that we still need to take care of: sound design and mixing, color
correction, score and festival submissions. These final steps are small, but they mean a big difference to
the quality of the final product, which I personally demand of myself be of the highest quality. The 7th
generation deserves nothing less.

DOMINIQUE DELEON

Incentives

$10

You'll get a special thank you on the Rez facebook page.

Claimed: 0 of 100

$25

You'll get a special thank you on the Rez facebook page and an invite to a screening near you with Q&A.

Claimed: 0 of 50

$50

You'll get a special thank you on the Rez facebook page, an invite to a screening near you with Q&A, and a DVD copy of the film.

Claimed: 0 of 25

$100

You'll get a special thank you on the Rez facebook page, an invite to a screening near you and an invite to break bread with us after the screening. If you're not in an area where we're screening, we'll schedule a time to skype with you and answer your questions, and you'll be sent a DVD copy of the film. You'll also get a special thank you in the credits.

Claimed: 0 of 25

$500

You'll get all of the above plus a special limited edition "Rez Nation Army" official tee that we're making to coincide with the release of the film.

Claimed: 0 of 10

$1,000

We'll bring the screening to you (within the contiguous 48 states). We'll come to your area, screen the film at a place of your choosing and answer all your questions about the film and upcoming projects. You'll also be one of the first to know about the feature film.

Claimed: 0 of 5

$2,500

Not only will we bring the screening to you, but we'll bring the two leads along with us! We'll conduct a one day workshop with you that will include answering your questions about the film, and help you get your project off the ground! We'll stick around and hear about your ideas, and help you develop an idea into a scene and develop a plan to get shooting fast. Media is power and we want to help you!

$3,375 to go

costs $3,750

How much would you like to pledge?

$10

$25

You'll get a special thank you on the Rez facebook page and an invite to a screening near you with Q&A.

Claimed: 0 of 50

$50

You'll get a special thank you on the Rez facebook page, an invite to a screening near you with Q&A, and a DVD copy of the film.

Claimed: 0 of 25

$100

You'll get a special thank you on the Rez facebook page, an invite to a screening near you and an invite to break bread with us after the screening. If you're not in an area where we're screening, we'll schedule a time to skype with you and answer your questions, and you'll be sent a DVD copy of the film. You'll also get a special thank you in the credits.

Claimed: 0 of 25

$500

You'll get all of the above plus a special limited edition "Rez Nation Army" official tee that we're making to coincide with the release of the film.

Claimed: 0 of 10

$1,000

We'll bring the screening to you (within the contiguous 48 states). We'll come to your area, screen the film at a place of your choosing and answer all your questions about the film and upcoming projects. You'll also be one of the first to know about the feature film.

Claimed: 0 of 5

$2,500

Not only will we bring the screening to you, but we'll bring the two leads along with us! We'll conduct a one day workshop with you that will include answering your questions about the film, and help you get your project off the ground! We'll stick around and hear about your ideas, and help you develop an idea into a scene and develop a plan to get shooting fast. Media is power and we want to help you!

Current Team

About This Team

Founded in 2007, Special Boy Films was born with an uncompromising vision: to contribute
original myths to American cinema that illuminate the human condition. We do this because
we believe that a society is only as good as its stories, and these times deserve better ones. In
all our content we seek to bridge that which is timely with the very ancient craft of storytelling,
and the innate human needs we believe reside in every man, woman and child.
Founded exclusively as a film company, our work has expanded recently to include television,
music videos and branded content, but our mission remains the same: to push forward the
human experience one story at a time.

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Basic Info

Before we get started, please confirm the following:

I will not be running a campaign for this project on another platform simultaneouslyI understand that I need to reach at least 80% of my goal to keep the funds raisedI have ( or someone on my team has ) a US bank account and SSN or EIN